“The Saga’s Biggest
Fans on the Galaxy’s Greatest Mission” is the headline for the 2008 release.
This is basically the premise for the whole movie. Playing on at least 99% sci-fi
fan humor, “Fanboys” surprisingly enough, can be enjoyed more than one fandom.
With cameos by William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia),
and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), there is something for Star Trek and
Star Wars fans alike. There are also enough geeks in funny costumes embarrassing
themselves for everyone else to laugh at.
The movie starts out by introducing the
four main characters and conflict in one blow. Taking place in 1998, only
months before Star Wars Episode One releases, four old friends, diehard fans of
the Star Wars saga, find themselves grown apart. One of the friends, Eric (Sam
Huntington), seems to be over Star Wars and moving on with his life while the
other three, Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), and Windows (Jay
Baruchel) are determined to hold on to their lifelong fantasies. They drunkenly
propose to drive from their home in Ohio to Lucas Mansion in California to
steal an early viewing of the anxiously awaited prequel to the series. Eric thinks
the idea is ridiculous, but when he finds out Linus is dying of cancer, he
decides the journey is the only thing he can do to mend their friendship. After
many adventures on the way, filled with Trekkie bashing (literally), and other
delays, they arrive at the mansion and have their own flight from white-helmeted
guards. Friends bond, love is found, and a dying man gets his dying wish.
Actors played their roles well and
were cast based on their stereotypical nerdy images. Seth Rogan’s appearance as
multiple antagonists actually gave the film a more unified feel. There was only
one villain. Though his head “Trekker” felt a little over-the-top, this was
very possibly done purposefully. Kristen Bell as the just-one-of-the-guys Zoe,
left something to be desired. This was certainly not her best role, though she
was still quite likable as a character.
Overall, the movie was enjoyable. The
characters were likable and entertaining, if not completely endearing. Time
spent on misadventures left little room for those characters’ development.
There is of course sympathy for their plight, mostly Linus’s , and you can see
that these men are old friends with a deep rooted love for… well, Star Wars.
There seems to be no other point to their lives, unless you count the vaguely
mentioned career plans a couple of them have. The plot is fairly simple and has
few twists (though there are some fun ones). Though there may be too much time
spent on the side adventures, it never feels slow. As a heart-felt tale of
friends and personal growth, it falls a little short. However, as a fun,
reference-filled movie it succeeds. If you have any feelings for Star Wars,
Star Trek, or anything starting with “Star” for that matter, this is a movie worth watching.
